Kitten Playtime

Dear God, I must squeal in Japanese now.

Kawaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

This serves no purpose whatsoever except to be egregiously cute. Sometimes egregious cuteness is all I'm up for on some days. Enjoy your the rest of your weekend, cats and kittens.

Antigravity Cat-Toast Device

This amuses me no end. I want to interject the phrase "cat-toast equilibrium point" or "cat-butter paradox" in my daily conversations. This has probably been out around the Internet for ages and ages, but I just found it. So there.

A more detailed write-up on can be found here.

Gregor Will Never be a Supermodel

Gregor (Mr. Squeakypants, the Mama's Boy) will never be a supermodel. It's not that he isn't amazingly handsome (he is), and he certainly has plenty of prima donna qualities; it's just that he's simply not, um, stationary. I'll get the camera ready to take his picture, and he'll decide he wants to come over and see me for cuddling.

Out of the dozen Gregor pictures taken this morning, these are the only "usable" ones, and some would argue that two-thirds of these aren't usable at all -- except to make a point. Thomas, on the other hand, is extremely photogenic.

Sicker Than a Dog, and Another Cat Picture

There should be some Rule of the Universe that allows do-over days when you're sick on your vacation. Those body aches on Tuesday weren't from schlepping my books around, but were the onset of a terrible cold. I've been feeling like crap since Wednesday afternoon (and it's now Saturday morning). Someone somewhere owes me those three days back.

But, ever the optimist, I have today and tomorrow to get healthy and get rested and return to the office on Monday with a Smile on my Face and a Song in my Heart. I have the expansion to Oblivion (Shivering Isles), a 7th level Ranger on Florendyl (the Vanguard RP-preferred server) that needs some tradeskilling and diplomacy attention, and it's time for me to convince the Telvanni to name me Hortator in Morrowind. Lots to do that doesn't involve moving around, much, unless you count coughing up a lung as moving around.

As to the cat picture, that's my Gregor KafkaCat, post-sink. I haven't been the the bathroom by myself in ten years.

Gratuitous Cat Pictures

Another Emma picture.



I'm testing out adding a 1-pixel border to my photographs so they stand out better on the web page. Not terribly exciting stuff, but I think it works fairly well. [Yes, I know Emma is fat. Yes, I know her health can suffer because of it. I'm trying to do my best by her and help her lose weight, but it's a slow, slow process.]

Thomas is very busy this Saturday, as you can see. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING can be done in this household without appropriate Cat Supervision. Thomas decided that since this was a larger photo, it needed a 3-pixel border. All of a sudden this cat is a graphic designer...

Emma's Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Sometime on Sunday afternoon, Queen Emma decided that Kitty Pi 2 was somehow acceptable to Her Royal Self. I think her foray into Kitty Pi-ness lasted all of 15 minutes, but I have photographs! Proof!

I've claimed all along that I have three cats...

A Photo Essay: All Your Kitty Pi Are Belong to Us

I apologize for the quality, or lack thereof, of my photograpy. I apologize for the mess that is my study. I never pretended to be Martha Stewart, and only dull women keep immaculate houses.

But, pictures are worth a thousand words:

The "Before" Pictures

The "During" Pictures


The "After" Pictures

Cat Supervision (and Snoozing)

Nothing can be done in this household without cat supervision. Knitting, gaming, reading -- you name it. The Cat must be present. I think it's in his contract or something. All this supervision is stressful and must be remedied by frequent naps. Peasant, bring me my catnip and kitty treats!

I Need to be Nerfed; and "A Single Serving of Kitty Pi"

Yes, that's a critical hit for a little over 1,700 damage. A yep. I have about 1,050 hit points myself at 15th level, and this was just one WHACK at a mob.

One thousand, seven hundred in damage. Holy frijoles.


The Kitty Pi (the quite small kitty pi) as modeled by Thomas:

PIPP's - Pi In Progress Pics!

I'm still a very bad photographer/Paint Shop Pro user. I swear on a stack of Bibles that the pink yarn in the top stripe is the exact, identical color (and dye lot) as the pink yarn on the bottom, but can I take a picture that somehow demonstrates this? No, I cannot. I have other gifts, but they do not translate into the realm of photography and/or digital editing. I know how to use semi-colons. I know the difference between i.e. and e.g. I know when you say something is a person's forte it's pronounced "fort," not "for-TAY."


Nonetheless, I suck at photography. I'm not losing any sleep over it.


The top photo is the Kitty Pi before it went into the Magic Felting Wash. I'm glad I took the time to take it out of the pillowcases and check it halfway, because it had SHRUNK like you would not believe. A lot of wet yarn wrangling later, and I got it over the cat cabana I was using for it's blocking form.


(Thomas investigamatin' the pi in process)

I Blame the Cat

Alright, so I've been AWOL awhile; not that I was actually very far from my computer, but I've been a tad... distracted. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Vanguard: Saga of Heroes open beta. Nope. Not a thing. I blame the cat. I can clearly demonstrate in Photographic Exhibit A that Thomas is hogging the mouse and is preventing me from customizing my half-elven version of Laiane Wolfsong, Ranger Grrrl extraordinaire.

Actually, Laiane is going to wind up as a Wood Elf in Vanguard. The half elves, once again, got a glossing over as far as any unique lore/culture/society/history/whatever is concerned, and they had some bizarro Asian-themed thing going on in the newbie zone. When you can take this stone from my hand, Grasshopper. Yeah, right. I'm putting my money on the Wood Elves for this one, even if it does mean wearing twigs in my hair. I'll post screenies in a few days.

The Husband spent most of last night upgrading my comp, and it is absolutely screaming fast now. Vanguard goes live tomorrow. Rock and Roll, Cats and Kittens, I'm going MMORPG-ing, again.

I Just Love Quoting People

I don't think I'm entertaining enough on my own, so I like to use other peoples' words -- a lot. I found the following in the latest issue of The Sun Magazine (January 2007):

Why do you only hear bad news about LSD? It's always the same story about some idiot who thought he could fly, so he jumped out a fifty-story window. Why don't we ever hear this news story? "Today a young man took LSD and realized that ego is an illusion and that we are all part of the universe experiencing itself subjectively; that death is just another journey; and love is the only reality. And now, here's sports." -- Bill Hicks

I have absolutely fallen in love with The Sun, and will probably keep a subscription for as long as I live, or as long as it lives (I certainly hope it outlives me). Their "Readers Write" feature has an upcoming topic -- "Airports" -- that I want to write about, mainly my recurring dream/nightmare of trying to catch a plane and never making it, or getting caught up in absurd delays. I don't know of anyone else who has recurring airport dreams.


Oh, and as long as I'm here, rambling aimlessly, let's have a gratuitous cat picture. Sorry it's so blurry. A Certain Someone was sitting on my dominant hand. He really isn't that fat; he's just sort of in Amoeba-Cat mode where he splooches out all over whatever horizontal surface upon which he, um, splooches. Note that HE is the one with the expression of long-suffering tolerance. "(Sigh) When will the Stupid Human Girl pay attention to my Glorious Cat-ness? Hey, I'm being CUTE here, Human!"

Well, Duh... and Another Cat Picture

You Belong in Paris

You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris. You're the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe.

What European City Do You Belong In?

I need to get back to Europe. About every four to five years I begin to get underwhelmed with this so-called American culture.(1) Mini-malls, 238 channels of cable television, Starbucks (the Walmart of Coffee Houses), Fox News, u.s.w. The Husband and I are planning a trip to the British Isles this fall (we got our passport pictures taken today), but I could seriously handle another jaunt in the City of Lights. /sigh.

In any event, the main purpose of this blog entry was not to have me sigh over baguettes and Le Tour Eiffel, but to post a Cat Picture. A Cat Picture of a DIFFERENT CAT. So, I present in all his glory, Mr. Gregor KafkaCat:


Gregor's Nicknames:
1. Mr. G
2. Mr. Squeakypants
3. Daichi Neko (big number one cat)
4. Boogercookie (This is relatively new, and has a rather lengthy explanation behind it that I'm not even going to begin to attempt)
5. Mama's Boy

**************************
(1) I feel another Gandhi quote coming on:

Interviewer to M. Gandhi: What's your opinion of Western civilization?
Gandhi: I think it would be a good idea.

I Do This Because I ~CAN~

Once again, gratuitous cat pictures. I do have two other cats in this house. Really. Thomas is just the most photogenic.



Merry Christmas, everyone. I'm certain I'll add more to this entry later on. Right now I'm waiting for He Who Fixes Computers to wake up (and I'm on my 3rd cup of coffee with Bailey's Mint Chocolate Irish Cream liqueur).

The green bean casserole and the mashed potato gratin are pre-assembled and in the 'fridge. The Husband needs to make the cornbread stuffing and get the turkey (the real turkey, not the furry, orange one in the box) in the oven.

More pictures. I need the practice.

This is the amazing, totally rockin' Christmas tree ornament that my friend got for me at Bronner's. She told me that her husband was teasing her about buying ornaments for her co-workers, and that they were "dorky." I don't think "dorky" was the exact word he used, but that's the general idea.

Needless to say, He Who Takes Out the Garbage (i.e., The Husband) and I love this ornament. It looks a quite a lot like The Orange One. In fact, it's even more orange than The Orange One, if you can believe it. Thomas, however, doesn't have a Santa hat. He does have a mouse hat, though.

I should be careful that these photos don't find there way into the hands of PETA or the ASPCA. I'm sure I would be found guilty of cat torturing.

Working hard on "The Cats of Ulthar." I almost have finished Joshi's quest (just need to put the script on the book of poetry and update a journal entry or two).